The first day of E3 2013 is done. I’m tired, but it’s a good kind of tired. Things were a lot more chaotic this year than last year, but I still managed to see a lot of big name titles! In the war between Battlefield and Call of Duty, who wins? There are 10 games on this list today. Some were amazing, others were downright embarrassing. Read on to find out which were which!

1. Battlefield 4 Battlefield 4 is known for two things: huge multiplayer maps and destructible buildings. I am extremely happy to say that both are back and in a glorious way. I got to test out the multiplayer map that was demoed in the EA conference on Monday. It was indescribably fun. The map was huge, which made getting around on foot somewhat difficult. However, it was a lot of fun to maneuver around in tanks and helicopters, and this map was definitely big enough for it.

Battlefield 4 is known for two things: huge multiplayer maps and destructible buildings. I am extremely happy to say that both are back and in a glorious way. I got to test out the multiplayer map that was demoed in the EA conference on Monday. It was indescribably fun. The map was huge, which made getting around on foot somewhat difficult. However, it was a lot of fun to maneuver around in tanks and helicopters, and this map was definitely big enough for it.

GIT IN ZEH CHAPPAH!!!

It was a conquest style map, so my team had to capture the 5 capture points and wear down the opponent’s tickets. It was a very familiar mode and the classes are basically exactly the same. We’ll see how that ends up turning out (it didn’t really feel like much was that different in terms of game modes and customization options). One thing that I did notice that was different was the ability to choose my classes support kits. I played as a Support class, which would normally just be able to drop a bag of ammunition for those around me (which is one of the things I took and used liberally). However, I could also choose a different type of ammo bag or a different addition entirely. It was a very interesting feature that could change the player’s style greatly depending on how the player chooses to work with his teammates. But the best thing was the third objective. It was placed at the top of a skyscraper, which the player could get to either via elevators or by dropping in via helicopter. That was pretty cool in and of itself, but even better than that came later. As the match progressed, one of my teammates decided to shoot out the support columns for the skyscraper. This caused the entire freakin building to collapse (in real time)! It was awesome! It changed around the map considerably, since the third objective had to move to accommodate the collapsed building.

NEEDS MOAR CHAPPAH!

I don’t know how many other maps will feature something like this or if all of the buildings were destructible in the same way (it didn’t look like they were, but I couldn’t be sure). Either way, this is the kind of stuff that multiplayer should have had for years already. I’m glad that Battlefield 4 is taking advantage of it.

2. Need for Speed: Rivals As I mentioned before in my E3 prologue, I’m always weary about Need for Speed titles. Sometimes EA gets it right, other times it’s just not as good. And while Need for Speed: Rivals does have its advantages, it left a bit to be desired. If you’ve played the more recent Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, you’ll be extremely familiar with this game. It’s basically a sequel. The controls feel exactly the same, the environment feels almost exactly the same, the game looks almost exactly the same, the powers are exactly the same.

That old familiar feeling.

The one difference that I saw was that the multiplayer was executed in a persistent online environment. So the racers would be moving around the open world looking for races in which they could participate. While they did that, the cops would roam around the world looking for racers to bust. When a cop found one, he could turn on the lights and sound the horn and the pursuit would begin. It was a lot of fun to find a racer and start chasing him. I’m not sure how it will all work out though. Is the world going to be MMO style? Do the cops join a world and then events start? I wasn’t even sure if the racers I was busting were AI or real people. Hopefully these things will get answered in time. In the meantime though, if you liked Hot Pursuit you’ll like this game. If not, stay away.

3. Diablo 3 I played the first Diablo rather religiously with my dad. Back when the game featured LAN capabilities, my dad and I would tackle the deepest levels of Hell together. Diablo 2 was different, but still very fun for the first two acts. Diablo 3 isn’t the same at all. I was really disappointed. The adventuring is still technically the same, but it looks so cartoonish and it feels really shallow. Go through, kill everything, pick up stuff, sell it. And yes, I realize that’s exactly the same way that Diablo and Diablo 2 played out, but there is something that just feels so meaningless about it.

Oh, hello friends!

But there are already tons of reviews about that online. If you’re a PC gamer and you haven’t picked up Diablo 3 already, I’d recommend seriously reconsidering before you throw down $50. I tried out Diablo 3 on the PS3 though, and the inherent design flaws really showed through. Despite the cartoonish graphics, I did get very visible lag. If 8 or more enemies were on the screen at once (a common sight) my barbarian would lag during most attacks. It wasn’t enough to kill me, but it was enough for me to see it regularly. The auction house was removed for the console version. I tried to find out the reasoning behind this move (because it can be good or bad depending on how players look at it), but no one seemed to know. I figure it must be something to do with in-game transactions being stiffly regulated / restricted by the consoles, but I don’t know for sure. The controls have been redesigned so they work fairly well with the controller (not necessarily unexpected for the PC gamers). But for some reason it was extremely easy to lose track of the health bar. I died accidentally a few times because I couldn’t figure out how close I was to dying. The one thing that the console version does have going for it is that it offers 4 player multiplayer on the same console. So if you and 3 of your friends want to play Diablo 3 together, you can do that. The screen works in a very similar way to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (all characters together with no splits), so that will likely get chaotic if all of the characters don’t work together. This will not be a game that I buy. It was probably the second most disappointing game I tried today.

4. Skylanders Swap-Force Skylanders is extremely popular with young kids. I know because my nephew is obsessed with them. He’s getting pretty good at the games too (despite his young age), so I couldn’t miss a chance to test this out. There’s an entirely new game here with a new campaign, new enemies, and (of course) new skylanders. The new skylanders this time are “swap force” skylanders. Basically, the top half of each swap force member can be changed for any other swap force skylander. So if you have a character with a rocket for legs and drills for arms, you can swap out his torso, head, and arms with someone elses. This gives that character the rocket legs with an entirely different set of attacks.

I have created a monster!

It was pretty interesting. My test was fairly short, but in that time I definitely saw this as the kind of thing that could get kids excited and keep this game fresh for quite some time. All of the old skylanders work with this current game, so that’s good too!

5. Saints Row 4 I was slightly disappointed by Saints Row 4. Keep in mind that with THQ going under and Volition being bought out by Deep Silver, this game is going to be playing with one hand tied behind it’s back from the very beginning. It was originally designed to be a DLC for Saints Row: The Third, and it definitely feels like it. The graphics are exactly the same, the cityscape feels almost exactly the same, the weapons (while different) look exactly the same. Everything is extremely bright and extremely purple.

Part of the fun for me couldn’t be demonstrated in the Demo I tried (I like customizing my cars and my character, which I couldn’t do in this demo). The demo also didn’t demonstrate any of the campaign missions (a mistake for any demo, I want to see what the story is going to be like). But I can confirm that it should be just as over-the-top insane and fun as Saints Row: The Third. Also, there is a dubstep gun. It was really weird to use, but it fit in perfectly with the overall style of the game. I definitely enjoyed blasting people away with violent wubbing.

6. Castle of Illusion I’m not sure I really understood this game. It’s based on an old Sega platforming game, but evidently it’s a completely different story. It stars Mickey, which is great for Disney fans, but for some reason the developers decided to showcase one of the last levels in the game. Not only does this make for a very confusing story, but it also means that the player has to deal with extremely difficult enemies. I died a few times, and not for lack of trying. Without being able to test the earlier levels and seeing the difficulty curve, I couldn’t recommend this game to little kids (which seemed like its target audience).

7. Call of Duty: Ghosts Two years ago if you and told me that Call of Duty: Ghosts would be one of the weakest shooters coming to the market I would have laughed at you and shook my head. I’m not the kind of gamer that’s a total shill for any one game (I’ve played enough games to know that every series has its ups and downs), but Call of Duty has been regularly good for years now. It hasn’t been everything that I wanted it, but it’s hard to imagine something being better.

Looks good, but still lacks substance.

But this year we have Battlefield 4, Titanfall, and The Division, all of which are lightyears ahead of Call of Duty. While the new engine has definitely improved the graphics of the previously outdated CoD series, that just isn’t enough to top what the other games are doing. Battlefield 4 has destructible skyscrapers (as previously mentioned), Titanfall has fast based infantry action backed up with battlemechs, and The Division is an open world Tom Clancy game with RPG elements. Next to that, Call of Duty is really showing its age. I liked that the player could control the team’s dog in sections. It was pretty cool to see the dog attacking and killing guys in first person. The dog didn’t feel like the member of the team that the developers seemed to pride themselves on, but that may have been because I didn’t see enough of the game to form any sort of emotional attachment. I will pick this game up eventually, but it is way down the list compared to the other games I mentioned.

8. Final Fantasy XIV Online This was the most disappointing game that I tried today. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy games, but I wanted to give this one a try. During the trailer they showed, I wrote down as a note “Who talks like this?” The dialog was really bad. I can usually put up with it because, after all, we’re writing games here, not novels. But Final Fantasy XIV was just absurd. Someone said something like “The Enterprise is an amazing ship, and I am the greatest captain ever!” Now try to use that in a normal conversation. Or say something like “The Elantra is an amazing car, and I am the greatest driver ever!” But that aside, the game plays like a World of Warcraft clone. You’ll have your powers which can be used to create combinations that aren’t immediately obvious. One of the developers helped me, which felt a bit unfair. If I can’t figure out the good combos relatively quickly, I’m not going to be happy. That’s not to say that I want the game to hold my hand, but how will I ever learn that the “1 + 2 + 4” combo is the best one? Does the game tell me that in some way other than text?

Either way, I just don’t see the point in playing this game. Unless you’re a seriously diehard Final Fantasy fan, there are a good number of better MMOs already out. Especially with The Elder Scrolls Online…

9. Total War: Rome 2 I tried the first Rome: Total War game a while back and didn’t really enjoy it. The economics of the game was difficult to understand, and with a relatively poor tutorial I was quickly overwhelmed. So I was extremely skeptical about Total War: Rome 2. Fortunately, even the brief demonstration showed how much farther the series has come and how much easier the developers wanted to make even the smallest of micromanagement areas. According to the developers, controlling regions is fairly simple. If the player takes control of a region, he can control that region’s supplies and economy fairly simply. If the player manages to take multiple regions in an area, those regions form together to create an easily manageable province. I’m not sure exactly how that works, but it seems very simple on paper.

Camels vs infantry? Not sure how that turns out.

There were other elements that made things like trade and diplomacy much easier to manage as well, but that wasn’t what I got to test out. I tested out the combat, which felt a lot like every other Total War game. Tactics play a big role in the game. If the player has the high ground, he has a serious advantage over his opponents. Ranged combat matters, but it’s nothing against the charge of an angry mass of elephants. I’m not convinced that this game will be as much fun as Civilizations or Sins of a Solar Empire, but it will at least be something worth trying in the future.

10. Lost Planet 3 (Multiplayer) Last year I got to test out Lost Planet 3’s single player demo. It was interesting but nothing to write home about. Using the mech was pretty cool, but it seemed like a very slow game. This time there was a testable version of Lost Planet 3’s multiplayer. While it had some innovative elements, the overall execution felt very bland. I loved the grappling hook, which players could use to quickly move between levels (both up and down). And I liked the one-flag CTF mode we were testing out. The flag starts out as a neutral monster that the players have to kill. That monster then drops the “flag”, which the players must pick up and bring to the opposing team’s base. It was just a slight variation on an often overused mode, but I appreciated the attempt to make it different.

But the problem is that otherwise it’s just like every other third person cover shooter on the market. Gears has already done it, and done it much better. While I will likely pick this game up eventually, it definitely won’t be for the multiplayer.

Well that’s it for day 1! I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll be able to see games like Titanfall and Watch Dogs, but at this point anything goes!